Former Maple Leafs Winger Available for Free on Waivers
One former Maple Leafs forward has found himself on waivers for the second time in as many seasons and with a reasonable contract, may end up being claimed.
Drafted in the first round of the 2014 entry draft, Kasperi Kapanen was acquired by the Leafs on July 1, 2015 as part of the Phil Kessel trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins that included Nick Spaling, Scott Harrington, Pittsburgh's 1st round pick in 2016 and New Jersey's 3rd round pick 2016.
After five seasons with the Leafs bouncing between the NHL and AHL, Kapanen was traded back to the Penguins along with Pontus Aberg and Jesper Lindgren for Evan Rodrigues, Filip Hallander, David Warsofsky and Pittsburgh's 1st-round pick in 2020 NHL Draft.
Unfortunately, for Kapanen, his second stint with the Penguins organization was not as fruitful as he or the club would have liked as he struggled to find consistent offense which led to him being placed on waivers last season where he was claimed by the St. Louis Blues.
After signing a 1-year, $1M deal to stay with the Blues this past off-season, Kapanen has struggled once again to find his footing as he has just 1 goal in 10 games so far. His performance has led to the Blues placing him on waivers Monday afternoon.
With a very reasonable cap hit of $1M there are a handful of teams that could take a flyer on the 28-year-old Finland native. If he was a center, surely the Leafs would have taken a look at potentially putting in a claim on him, but given he is purely a winger, it makes zero sense for the Leafs.
Once projected as a very useful middle-six forward that could chip in offensively, Kapanen has yet to carve out a definitive role for himself since being traded out of Toronto.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 18 | 3047 ANSWERS Former Maple Leafs Winger Available for Free on Waivers Should the Leafs have held on to Kapanen? | ||
| Yes, he was in a position to succeed | 734 | 24.1 % |
| No, he wanted too much money for what he brought | 2313 | 75.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
